• Replies 28 replies
  • Subscribers 35 subscribers
  • Views 5407 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Collecting and collections

Oakling

Just something small from me on a Sunday morning after a short break from here.

Does anyone else collect things or have something that they enjoy spending their time looking at? It’s possible there is already a thread like this somewhere, but I’m never sure about the etiquette linked to old threads.

I have always collected small things. As a child I used to have a shelf above my radiator that I used to set up almost like a museum exhibition for all of my intriguing items. Things like interesting stones, tiny toys and old coins would be part of my collections. Whenever I have a sort out, I often find many of the things that I squirrel away without realising it. I now have an area in my garage that is dedicated to this old style of collecting that I did as a child. I sometimes accompany the things I collect with a book linked to it, if I find one. For example I have recently bought a book on silver marks (which are tiny and therefore captured my attention immediately), so would like to find some thing to go with this book.

Other things I love to collect include trading cards such as Pokémon cards (but only the earlier examples) and interesting rocks and minerals.

Do you have anything that you collect or just enjoy to look at/ be around?

Parents

  • Books, so many books, antiquities - Greek and Roman pottery, Egyptian amulets - African wood carvings by the Makonde people of Tanzania and Mozambique. 

  • in reply to Martin

    That sounds fascinating - I love amulets of various kinds. It’s so interesting that for centuries people have valued these small objects and given so much meaning and power to them. The carvings sound interesting - I don’t know much about African carvings, it’s something I such find out more about. Do you know the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford? It’s my favourite museum. It has a fantastic selection of Amulets and lots of African objects too. It has draws and draws of fascinating stuff that you can pull open - it’s a real treasure trove of interesting small objects. 

  • in reply to Kate Kestrel

    Unfortunately, I have only been to Oxford once, for a conference at the John Radcliffe Hospital and didn't have much spare time, so I missed out there. The Makonde make carvings in a number of different genres, the most interesting is 'shaitani' where the carver produces abstracted, very stylised carvings based on dreams, and traditional spirit-figures.

  • in reply to Martin

    Well - if you ever do return to Oxford then check out the Pitt Rivers Museum - I’ve think you would love it if you like African carvings. There’s bound to be loads of things you’d find interesting - it’s packed with interesting objects from all over the world. 

Reply
  • in reply to Martin

    Well - if you ever do return to Oxford then check out the Pitt Rivers Museum - I’ve think you would love it if you like African carvings. There’s bound to be loads of things you’d find interesting - it’s packed with interesting objects from all over the world. 

Children
No Data